


can you tell me how to love?

by starryJ



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, jaeficfest, jaeficfest2020, this is very random but hopefully cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:28:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26681428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryJ/pseuds/starryJ
Summary: “can’t you stay longer?” he asks and he can swear what he hears after his question is jae’s quiet giggle.“i’d love to,” jae promises, “but there’s a new customer and i’m still on my shift.”(alt: after a long day at work all brian needs is a sweet drink, but jae, the cutest barista in the city, has a different idea. well, he almost messes it all up.)
Relationships: Kang Younghyun | Young K/Park Jaehyung | Jae
Comments: 13
Kudos: 51
Collections: Day6 OTPs, Jae Fic Fest 2020





	can you tell me how to love?

**Author's Note:**

> okay, to the person who requested this: i am so, so deeply sorry. it took me ages to write a 2k something, and it's not how i imagined my life to be when i claimed this prompt. idk what's happening with my writing, but it was a struggle. it's most definitely not what you wanted, but i hope you can still enjoy this. 
> 
> also, to anyone who may be waiting for my other works to be updated: i'm most likely not coming back with anything for a long while. there's a big crisis that i'm trying to solve, but not succeeding, so;;; until i figure out what's wrong with my writing nowadays, there won't be any updates.
> 
> this fic is super late for the party, but i hope you'll like it <3  
> don't judge me for zero logic here, it just... happened. i switched my plot idea 180 degrees when in hopes to find some inspiration i went to a cafe and they messed up my order. i'm not brian, and i can't drink coffee at all, so it's been a struggle, but eventually, this was born.

“moonrise” café has been on brian’s “to visit” list for quite a while now – basically, ever since he got this new job. one of his colleagues, sungjin, hasn’t gone a day without reminding him that he should definitely check this place out.

sungjin’s point was clear: the café is very close to their office, but it’s hidden quite well so it’s never too crowded, they have the best coffee (in sungjin’s opinion, at least) and, last but not least, they also have the cutest guys working there – wonpil and jae, if brian remembers correctly.

honestly, this last bit was one of the main reasons why it took brian so long to finally give up and promise sungjin that he would visit the café this friday.

the problem is, brian can almost feel that sungjin has a huge crush on this wonpil guy, and so, for his own sake, brian doesn’t want to personally meet him because it’d mean spending even more time discussing sungjin’s love life – or at least wonpil’s appearance.

but today is friday, and no matter how drained brian feels after an exhausting day at work, no matter how much he wants to just crawl under his cozy blanket and sleep all the way till monday, he’s made a promise and has no intention of breaking it.

with a heavy sigh, he pushes the door and almost freezes upon entering the small café. he’s already noticed that it’s completely different from any other place he’s seen in this part of the city, but, once inside, brian just stands there, astonished.

for a moment, he feels like he’s somehow ended up in a fairytale instead of a café, but when he’s about to pinch himself to make sure he’s not dreaming, someone greets him in a soft voice. brian got so lost in his own thoughts that he completely forgot there could be other people in the café, so he nearly jumps, making this same person chuckle quietly.

“sorry, i didn’t mean to scare you,” he says and, once brian finally turns around, the guy smiles at him.

“no-no, it’s my fault, i just had a really long day at work today and i just can’t focus on anything anymore,” brian assures him quickly and comes to the counter, noticing that they’re alone in the café.

he pretends to be checking the menu, but instead takes a better look at the barista, who’s still wearing this polite smile on his face. his nametag reads “jae” and brian sighs in relief, because if it was wonpil, he would probably not be able to handle hours of talking about him with sungjin.

jae looks almost ethereal in a huge fluffy white sweater, with his blond hair and a pair of bright piercing eyes. he smiles again when he notices that brian is staring at him, so brian has to look away, mumbling something about his order.

“pardon?” jae asks and the blush on brian’s cheeks gets deeper.

he didn’t even mean to look at jae like this, it just… happened. seeing someone who looks this effortlessly beautiful after a really long and annoying day at work is like a gift from the gods, so of course he took the bait. jae’s just a cute guy, and brian really doesn’t want him to think that there’s more to his gaze – he’s just tired, that is all. or, at least, that’s what he’s trying to tell himself.

“give me the sweetest thing you have here,” he repeats, more confident this time.

to be completely honest, he’s surprised by his own request: the thing is, he doesn’t even like sweets. cakes, candies, chocolate bars – all those are not for him, he’d rather have a cup of iced americano, bitter and dark. today, however, he just feels the need to sip on a sugary drink, and he really hopes that “moonrise” can satisfy those needs.

“i mean, i don’t think i can serve myself up on a plate, but something can be arranged,” jae replies, still wearing a smile that’s probably sweeter than cotton candy.

“just make it a surprise.”

jae nods and turns his back to brian, already busy preparing the drink. sighing tiredly, brian stretches his arms and takes a seat at the table by the window.

he can’t lie to himself: his heart started beating way faster that it normally would when jae began subtly flirting with him. brian tries to tell himself that it’s just because it’s been years since he’s seen someone this adorable and good looking, only because he’s never had anyone flirt with him since he moved here. it’s not working, of course it doesn’t.

“here you go,” jae says five minutes later, bringing him back to reality.

he places a big glass of _coffee_ on the table and then, almost shyly, also adds a plate with a single piece of blueberry cake. when brian looks at him in confusion, jae just shrugs and mumbles something about a “surprise”, but brian can tell that he’s not exactly present right now.

there’s something going on in his mind, behind this polite smile he’s still wearing, and brian isn’t sure if he has the right to ask the simple question of “is everything okay?”. instead, he gives jae the brightest smile he can manage while being so tired and sips on his coffee, which is, just like he expected, bitter as hell.

“the cake is on the house, by the way” jae adds absent-mindedly, looking somewhere above brian’s head. “don’t ask me why.”

“why though?” brian still asks, genuinely curious. “sorry, i see you’re not in the mood for talking.”

“what?” jae flinches suddenly, coming back to reality.

his eyes focus on the glass he brought, and when he notices it’s full of coffee instead of sweet linden tea that he was just about to make, his lips form a perfect “o” shape. brian finds it endearing, but he doesn’t want jae to feel guilty and says he actually likes americano, so it’s perfectly fine – just not what he wanted to have this evening, that is all.

“i’m sorry, i’m so, so sorry…”

jae apologizes ten times, sounding more and more desperate with every word he says, and brian can sense that he’s probably also afraid of getting a bad review from him, which is definitely not happening. so he got the order wrong, so what?

“listen,” he tries again, because jae looks pale now and it doesn’t suit him. “there’s nothing wrong with making mistakes. let’s just pretend that you somehow guessed that my favorite drink is americano, okay? you still got me this sweet cake, so it’s fine, don’t worry too much. is everything okay with you though?”

upon hearing the question, jae starts biting his lips and then nods, but shakes his head five seconds later. he takes a deep breath and smiles weakly when brian asks him to take a seat and relax for a moment.

right, all he wanted this evening was a sweet drink, but he got a huge glass of bitter americano, and a cute barista crying in front of him. wait, is he crying?

“sorry,” jae manages to say once again, hands trembling. “it’ll get better. i’m sorry you had to see this.”

“we don’t have to always be okay, you know,” brian says quietly, then takes another sip of his coffee. “there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“normally i don’t work evening shifts,” jae admits a few moments later, hiding his hands in long sweater sleeves. “but today it just happened.”

brian nods to show that he’s listening, surprised that it was so easy to make jae talk about what’s bothering him. it’s not like he can offer anything other than his shoulder to cry on, but for some stupid reasons (such as his heart beating so fast that it may soon burst out of his ribcage) he’s willing to try and at least make sure that jae doesn’t blame himself too much.

“i’m taking pills and this is one of the side effects,” jae continues with a sigh. “i only take them once a day after lunch, so usually i function like a normal human being at work, but today…”

he trails off at that, but brian doesn’t really need him to finish. he knows what jae means, but doesn’t know what he can do to make it better. it feels a little weird: they’re complete strangers who met just five minutes ago, but, somehow, he already feels the desire to protect jae from the cruel world.

suddenly, something clicks in his mind and he realizes he didn’t even introduce himself.

“i’m brian, by the way,” he chuckles at the slight awkwardness between them. “should’ve said it earlier. want to have some cake?”

“i wish we met in… better circumstances, but it’s still nice to meet you,” jae replies with a slight blush on his cheeks, and brian almost melts at that. “and no, thank you, i can’t eat this.”

“why not?” brian asks, pleasantly surprised at how easily their conversation goes from one random thing to another. “you don’t look like someone who needs to be on a diet.”

this makes jae laugh, and the atmosphere seems to instantly become warmer and lighter.

“i’m allergic to blueberries,” he eventually says with a shy smile. “well, i’m basically allergic to everything, so i don’t eat here.”

“oh no, this must be so annoying,” brian almost yells, and his voice echoes in the small café.

he finds himself blushing, but jae is still smiling at him, so he doesn’t feel as embarrassed as he probably should be.

“the cake is really good, though, thank you for this.”

“it’s the least i can do for messing up your order,” jae replies with a wink.

when jae gets up and turns around to leave his table, brian almost whines but catches himself right on time. strangely enough, talking to jae was soothing, and he doesn’t want it to end just like that.

“can’t you stay longer?” he asks and he can swear what he hears after his question is jae’s quiet giggle.

“i’d love to,” jae promises, “but there’s a new customer and i’m still on my shift.”

with that, jae goes back to the counter and brian nearly slaps himself in the face for being so lost in his own world and so whipped for jae – he didn’t even notice that someone else entered the café. this person, however, doesn’t stay, instead orders large vanilla latte to go and leaves, so five minutes later jae joins him at the table again.

by this time brian has already finished the cake and is now trying to slow down his consumption of caffeine – otherwise he won’t have any excuses to stay longer.

“you’re cute,” they both say at the same time.

“thank you, i hear that a lot,” brian tries to be all smug and playful, and somehow even manages to trick jae into believing that, but his heart begins a race again.

in fact, people usually say that he looks intimidating rather than cute, and he’s so used to it that the sudden compliment from jae makes him grin from ear to ear.

“i love your sweater,” he says and chuckles when he notices that jae pouts. “what?”

“nothing,” jae replies shyly, cheeks crimson from embarrassment. “are you done with your coffee?”

“i guess so?”

“good,” is all jae says before he starts playing with a napkin, successfully ruining it fifty seconds later.

this situation is so ridiculous that brian can’t stop laughing inside, but tries to keep a serious expression on his face. he’s heard that some people believe in soulmates, and, honestly, if he was one of them, he’d definitely say he’s just met his soulmate.

he doesn’t know anything about jae, but, somehow, that doesn’t stop him from getting lost in those eyes, from imagining how it would feel to hug jae in that huge fluffy sweater, to hold his hand. would his lips be as sweet and soft as they look when he pouts?

brian can sense that jae wants to say something, but it’s obvious that he isn’t confident enough. where did the flirty barista go now?

“look, jae,” he begins, breaking the silence.

jae does look at him, even though that was not what he meant, and there’s something in his eyes, something like mixed hope and despair, that makes brian take a step forward and touch jae’s hand. he flinches, but doesn’t move, and this small yet important moment tells brian that he’s doing everything right.

“you must be really tired right now,” he continues, to which jae shakes his head stubbornly. “well, at least i am, work has been exhausting today. but, if you don’t mind, i would love to talk to you more in better circumstances, like you said earlier. so, can i pay for my coffee and also get your number? if it’s okay with you, i mean.”

“sure!” jae replies all too quickly and blushes immediately.

brian leaves the café with a smile on his face, which only gets bigger when his phone buzzes, showing that he got a new message. it’s just a smiling emoji, jae’s way of checking if he got the number right when it’s actually brian who was supposed to text him first. brian changes the contact name to “cutie jae” and texts back a simple “thank you for making this evening a little warmer”.

all he wanted today was a cup of sweet tea, but he got much, much more than that – even if he had to drink bitter coffee for it, it was all worth it.


End file.
